Dennis Otuaro, administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), has promised to involve more women in the Niger Delta peace process. He said that his administration will ensure the inclusion of more Niger Delta women in the implementation of the PAP mandate.
He also said that the women of the region would be an integral part of the consultation process initiated by the PAP Office for its peace-building efforts to foster sustainable peace, stability and economic growth in the area.
Otuaro spoke during a meeting with Niger Delta women in Warri, Delta State with the theme, ‘Niger Delta women empowerment: A panacea for peace, stability and economic growth in the region’ on Tuesday.
The meeting was part of an expanded Niger Delta stakeholders’ engagement by the PAP office with traditional rulers, opinion leaders, women groups and youth bodies, leaders and members of the various Phases, among others.
A statement issued by Igoniko Oduna, his special assistant on media, on Wednesday, quoted the PAP boss as saying that the women folk deserved more inclusion because many female activists and youths actively participated in the Niger Delta struggle.
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Otuaro further noted that several of the female youths also suffered great personal losses while the women folk alongside their communities became the first casualties in the attendant conflicts resulting from the agitation.
He said President Bola Tinubu takes women’s empowerment seriously and has endorsed the PAP’s office’s measures to support girl-child learning and Niger Delta women to enhance their small and medium-scale businesses to boost economic growth and peace in the region.
Otuaro said, “Under my leadership, there will be more inclusion and consultation of women in our formal education scholarship and vocational training schemes, as well as peace-building initiatives.
“Our women and mothers were the first casualties in the course of the struggle. They were the backbone of the struggle, and they will continue to be. Therefore, they deserve economic empowerment and support.
“Mr President desires that Niger Delta women should be economically empowered. He believes that when you empower women, the home front will be strong, the society will be better and there will be sustainable peace.
“So far in the formal education aspect, the office deployed 780 women to universities abroad, and 2,781 females to local universities. In vocational training, we have trained about 1,389 women while 1,208 women have benefited from post-training empowerment. We will continue to do more for our female folk.”
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